kevin911
Members
there is a kids table in the back!!! :lol:
sorry, totally couldnt help it
Lol and free chicken nuggets
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there is a kids table in the back!!! :lol:
sorry, totally couldnt help it
Are there any other younger members that go to meetings? Im only 14...
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True +1As a long time Member I believe this Marketplace should be closed to nonmembers. Its a benefit of belonging to the club.
As a long time Member I believe this Marketplace should be closed to nonmembers. Its a benefit of belonging to the club.There are a few users who are always here and are not members. Or maybe members should not sell to non members though this site. JMO
True +1
most if not all other clubs out there you have to be a member to access the market place
I agree 100%. It doesn't seem right that a nonmember can profit through this site and not pay a dime to the club.
As a long time Member I believe this Marketplace should be closed to nonmembers. Its a benefit of belonging to the club.There are a few users who are always here and are not members. Or maybe members should not sell to non members though this site. JMO
Is there a way to make it mandatory to pay for membership when visiting the site ? This approach let the visitor choose to pay for membership, of course we would list the benefits of joining to attract people. I find it better this way vs. Making these thread and guilting people into paying the $20 ?
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Having the section open to non members helps our members and our club.
90-95% of all new club members find us because of the forum. Most are not looking for a club. They are looking for fish. When they google a fish that we have for sale on here, no matter if its a club member selling it or not, they find us.
They look, contact, possibly buy, and discuss things. They like us and they join.
The more that join, the better the club is.
This is the same with members finding fish they are looking for. There are times that a non member is selling something that a club member is interested in.
This forum has always had an open 4 sale section. It has always helped the club. We do not let companies us it. If someone is abusing it we ban them.
Bottom line is this section is 50% of the posts and activity on the forum over the years.
Without it, the club would be 50% smaller.
Honestly, had I had to pay to become a member before finding out who you guys were and what a great resource this place was, I wouldn't have joined.
I think Matt's quote is dead-on. Some of us know that if we're going to continuously try to sell things and profit from the club, financially and otherwise, we should give back, financially and otherwise. Others are going to continue to take advantage of the general good nature of the club.
I believe, currently, that only members can sell things at auction. It might be beneficial to make membership a requirement to sell things in the marketplace as well. I think anyone should be able to PM a seller to buy something, but maybe only members should be able to start marketplace threads and respond to them. This potentially gives members a small advantage over non-members, who will have to PM rather than reply to a thread. It might encourage people, particularly those who want to financially profit from the club through sales, to actually join the club.
Agree great point Becca
House of Tropicals gives a 10% discount on fish. Dry goods don't count.
I've seen it both ways and I'd understand either way, but I agree with the above.Having the section open to non members helps our members and our club.
90-95% of all new club members find us because of the forum. Most are not looking for a club. They are looking for fish. When they google a fish that we have for sale on here, no matter if its a club member selling it or not, they find us.
They look, contact, possibly buy, and discuss things. They like us and they join.
The more that join, the better the club is.
This is the same with members finding fish they are looking for. There are times that a non member is selling something that a club member is interested in.
This forum has always had an open 4 sale section. It has always helped the club. We do not let companies us it. If someone is abusing it we ban them.
Bottom line is this section is 50% of the posts and activity on the forum over the years.
Without it, the club would be 50% smaller.
I've seen it both ways and I'd understand either way, but I agree with the above.
As it stands this was a public forum when I registered and I don't feel guilty for participating in a public forum according to the rules of the forum.
Whether I join the club or not has zero reflection on my interest in the hobby-- I've kept and bred fish off and on since the 1960s and continuously since the late 80s, so I'm plenty dedicated to the hobby. But since I live at least 5 hours away from where you guys have meetings, there are occasions when I might like to attend if you were an hour or two away, but it doesn't work for my present circumstances. So, if I ever decided to pay for a membership at this point, it would amount to a donation and not something I'd actually use. Yes, I look at the Marketplace threads, but rarely actually participate-- for the same reason, I'm hours away from most of you guys. I've certainly not profited from viewing your Marketplace. But, now, what? If I wanted to post something for sale, something I've occasionally considered but I've yet to do, should I feel guilty or simply not do so?
I've been an Admin on cichlid forums, currently an Admin on two of them, one of them fairly big and well known, and part of what I enjoy here and a couple of other sites is being able to just be a forum member without any obligations or expectations. I have no problem with whatever rules you guys want to make, but if it is going to continue to be a public forum it would probably serve it well to make the public feel welcome and not like intruders who should feel guilty for using forum features according to forum rules.
Just an opinion.